There have been many devices proposed for supporting a book in an open position so that it may be read while the hands of the reader are free to perform some other task.
A very simple holder is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,833,197, granted Sept. 3, 1974, to B. Dyke for "Book Holder". With this holder, the pages of the book are only loosely confined between back plates and fences which are spaced a fixed distance apart. The result is that the few pages at the beginning and end of thee book are hardly confined at all. Free movement of these pages can interfere with their being read.
An improved page holding arrangement is incorporated into an Adjustable Reading Material Stand disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,989, granted Apr. 27, 1976, to C. L. B. Hatcher. This stand employs spring-biased fingers pressing against the pages to keep them open. A disadvantage of the arrangement disclosed is that these fingers must be lifted from the surface of the pages as the latter are turned. This is a two-hand manipulation and the reader may not always have both hands free to turn the page.
The page turning problem is addressed in a holder disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,523, granted Oct. 4, 1983, to A. P. Campione for "Book Holder". This inventor contends that a flat plate extending across the lower face of the left and right hand pages and held against the pages by rubber bands can be pulled forward to free a page by the fingers of one hand while other fingers of the same hand turn the page. The maneuver would appear to require considerable skill and dexterity on the part of the reader; these traits may not be possessed by some readers.
There continues to be a need for a book holder for reliably retaining a book in an open position, regardless of the attitude in which the book is held and which simplifies one-hand page turning.